


Pamptober 2020 Prompts: Autumn Love

by Mamaillow



Series: Autumn Love [1]
Category: Catherine (Video Game), Catherine: Full Body
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Classification, Alternate Universe - Earth, Dada Orlando, Diapers, F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi, Non-Sexual Age Play, Pamptober 2020, Papa Jonny, Vincent Is The Smallest Boy TM, alternate universe - littles are known
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-01
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:14:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 31
Words: 16,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26807185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mamaillow/pseuds/Mamaillow
Summary: When Astaroth said "When this sanctuary is bathed in Ishtar's love, I'll see you again, in a place far removed from here." No one had any idea what would happen, but when Ishtar's newest lover after her rejection and demotion of Dumuzid to Catherine's personal bitch, turns out to be a little, she is filled with so much happiness that she wants to spread that love to humanity. And she does, causing a massive paradigm shift that no one remembers.Vincent Brooks is the heavily abused little recovering under the TLC of Jonny Ariga, a car dealer, and Orlando Haddick, a programmer with a background in fishing and folklore.In this series, it is just anthology of cute prompts Sugar and I thought of when we were bored and dealing with lockdown.Since they don't fit in the main story, they go here!
Relationships: Catherine/Rin, Daniel Kirsch/Anna Rosmont, Erica Anderson/Toby Nebbins, Jonathan Ariga & Vincent Brooks, Jonathan Ariga/Orlando Haddick, Justin Bailey/Original Character(s), Katherine McBride/Paul Miller, Orlando Haddick & Vincent Brooks, Orlando Haddick/Jonathan Ariga, Todd Bozeman & Archie Wallace, Todd Bozeman/Original Character
Series: Autumn Love [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1955104
Kudos: 5





	1. Day 01: Decorate for Fall- The season’s arrived!

Crunching leaves, chilled air and the incessant need to make everything pumpkin flavored. Oh, and the need to clean everything.

Yes, fall had indeed arrived at the Haddick-Ariga-Brooks household. And with that need, came the need to decorate.

It had been about six-to-ten months since he and Jonny had taken in the sweet, adorable Little known as Vincent Brooks from the Heritage Center for Adoption and said adorable Little was adjusting quite nicely. It took a bit for him to get adjusted to their house- he just wasn’t used to accommodations that weren’t insultingly small, incredibly bleak and drab and constantly infested with ants. Moving from those accommodations to a 3 story house with his own bedroom, playroom and potential homeschool room was a bit of a stretch to get used to.

Thankfully, Orlando stayed at home to keep Vincent company while Jonny, his husband, worked during the day at a car-dealership, from 7 in the morning to 5 in the afternoon. That led back to today, it was up to Vincent and his Dada Orlando to decorate the place to the nines, in order to surprise the car-dealer. Now normally, they didn’t like to decorate all that much, but now things were special since Vincent had come to live with them. 

That wasn’t to say that they were going to go all out with bright oranges and blacks. No, their decorating style was calm and cozy. Blues, greens, natural tones, a splash of black and white plaid maybe. Nor was Orlando planning to shell out a shitton of money. Most of their decor will be coming from Target’s dollar-spot, Meijer, or Michaels-with a coupon. What could he say, he was a cheapskate. A festive cheapskate. 

“Alright Vinny, let’s start outside.” Orlando kissed his cheek, picking up the overall clad ravenette, “We’re not gonna do too much cuz it’s cold out, but we are gonna make it so we have a fighting chance with the festive bastards that are our neighbors? You ready?”

“Ye!” V0incent replied, holding onto his Dada’s shirt and his beloved sheep plushie, Sheepy. Sheepy was the name they used for the plushie day to day, but honestly, Orlando had forgotten the fancy name that Jonny had given the plushie for when Vincent wanted to host tea parties.

Truth be told, they didn’t really decorate the porch due to Jonny’s disgust of ants and other creepy critters, but it was autumn, so that was going to happen whether or not he liked it. So to keep them both happy, Orlando just had Vincent sweep off the porch while he hung up a new wreath- an adorable branched one with a little sheep wearing a black and white plaid scarf. “All done sweeping?”

“Uh-huh! What now?” Vincent asked.

“Well now, we gotta lay down some mats so we don’t track mud in the house. You know how much Papa hates it when we track mud in the house.” Orlando said, rolling up the old mat to get thrown out. One combination of a black plaid rug from amazon and a festive doormat later, they were back in the house. Just in time too, as it had begun raining.

The rain was a good moodsetter, but with the addition of a Bath and Body Works candle and an amazing playlist made it even better. With a candle of White Balsam and Vanilla burning, and two root beers to sip on, one in the can and one in a sippy cup, they began to work on the entryway. The shoes needed to be decluttered and recategorized since they weren’t wearing flip flops, crocs or sandals anytime soon. Once that was done, it was time to handle the small bit of the entryway where Orlando kept his hats and Jonny kept his fashionable backpacks. 

Taking everything down was the easy part, and Vincent was eager to help, putting all of his Dada’s hats on the couch in the other room and his Papa’s backpacks on the big chair where they read stories for the time being. After wiping down the area with a clorox wipe, he exchanged the pre-existing hooks for a new set that had an additional hook. With this in place, Orlando hung up his hat, Vincent’s hufflepuff scarf and a fashionable marigold yellow backpack that belonged to Jonny.

With the entryway almost done, all that was left was to clean a small ikea dresser that acted as their entry-way table that stored their keys and other miscellaneous belongings. After clearing the table, Orlando sprayed down the dresser with a bottle of Method All Purpose cleaner in the scent Honeycrisp apple and Vincent wiped it up.

“All done!” Vincent smiled, “Now we decorate?”

“Yep, now we make it look all pretty. Gotta surprise Papa, remember?” Orlando ruffled his hair. Plenty of battery-operated candles, tiny plastic, fabric and wooden pumpkins later, and it was looking adorably festive.

It was about 12:50 when they started on the living room, and the first place they focused on was the fake fireplace that was really more for setting the mood of the living room as a cozy space and warmth than any actual purpose as a console to set video game systems on or in. Nevertheless they did, and it was organized for the most part, usually. Usually being the key word. Since Vincent’s arrival, it had become a bit more messy and they definitely needed to at least wipe it down first and put away all the dvds before even thinking of decorating it.

Once that was cleaned up, Orlando set Vincent up with the task of rolling out a burlap table-runner and after it was rolled out, they set several battery operated candles, pumpkins and an autumn garland all across the mantle of the fireplace, and then hung another garland cross the fireplace that read ‘GATHER’

Next to tackle the rest of the living room and the coffee table. The dark grey couch needed it’s cushions cleaned and to be vacuumed, the decorations and candle on the coffee table didn’t fit for the time being and the decorative cushions which were fine for summer, now didn’t fit the atmosphere that fall brought. So a good 20 minutes later, they had a clean couch that was decorated with both yellow pillows and blue gingham pillows, a cozy marigold yellow knit throw blanket, and one very hungry Vincent who wanted lunch.

After a quick lunch of chicken nuggets and mac-n-cheese, they finished up the living room by cleaning and redecorating the coffee table with a gray gingham table-runner, a few battery-operated candles and a beautifully rustic metal tray that Vincent was happy to help decorate with some of his not-all that played with toys, including an adorable sock-monkey. He was such a good helper.

With the kitchen needing to be freshly cleaned after they had their lunch, it was the perfect opportunity to zhoosh it up a bit and make it more festive while still being functional. Wiping down the counters, the fridge and doing the dishes in the sink was the first step. Vincent liked to help by wiping things down and putting away the clean dishes, stepping on his cute little stool.

Once the dishes were done, they dressed up the breakfast table with a cute little blue mat and put a cake stand atop it, but instead of cake, it was decorated with a festive garland and a large ceramic pumpkin. In a corner where the toaster would go on any other morning now also sat a flat light up pumpkin, a tall suede pumpkin and another bath and bodyworks candle. A few festive kitchen towels later, and the stove was even festive. Now all that was left to do was the dining room and the area that was Orlando’s office/the homeschool room, because Vincent was on a program that made him stay home three days a week and go to a school the other two. 

Starting with the dining room, it was partially decorated when Orlando had gotten bored the previous week so there wasn’t too much to do. So after doing a quick wipe down, all that was really needed was to exchange the table runner for a festive one, give a quick wash to the lazy Susan situated at the center and start decorating said lazy susan with a few more candles and a bucket filled with candies, since they liked to keep some out. Of course, with Vincent around, they just used the types of candy that Vincent wouldn’t like as much, which meant it was filled with Jonny’s favorite caramels.

The final area of the house was the formal sitting room, which had been turned into a homeschool room/ Orlando’s office ages ago. The rainbow colors of Vincent’s area were turned down just a tad for more neutral blues and browns, though he didn’t mind and actually liked them better, which made Orlando wonder if he should keep the setup actually. Vincent very adorably set up ‘Sheepy’s family’ in a corner of the room, which was a Dada sheep and a Papa sheep, though he kept Sheepy with him for the simple fact that wasn’t where she goes, according to him in all of his adorable toddler wisdom.

With the downstairs all set up for fall, Orlando and Vincent fell asleep upstairs, at that crisp three in the afternoon.

Later that evening, Jonny arrived home, suitably tired, but came bearing pizza. He sighed and rubbed his face a bit, it had been a long day. Just dealing with the public left him drained.

So he was pretty surprised at seeing the house decorated, he blinked a bit. Was this all done today? He slid off his shoes and went over and set the pizza on the table. Heading over to the living room, thinking that Orlando and Vincent should still be here.

Indeed they were, waiting for him. Vincent was still in his playclothes, demanding that he stay in them for his Papa because he wanted his Papa to give him his evening bath. “Papa! We decorate!”

Orlando seemed exhausted, sitting on the couch with a beer and the television playing Corpse Bride. Seems they were already in the underworld, because the lyrics to ‘Remains Of The Day’ blasted through the speaker. “Remind me why we don’t clean as often as we should? At least, in the harder to reach places?”

“Because they’re harder to reach?” Jonny raised an eyebrow, before looking to Vincent and smiling. “You did, I could see all the work you two did.” He picked up Vincent, kissing his cheek.

Vincent squealed happily, “We decorate. Sheepy didn’t help much. She just sat and looked pretty.”-

“Well that’s what she does best.” Jonny rubbed his back, “I brought home some pizza.”

Vincent looked at him, “I want pizza.”

“You can have pizza.” He told him, “do you want me to get you a plate?” His knees were a bit sore from standing, but it’s fine.

“Mhm!” He nodded, “Can we bake cookies after pizza?”

“Well I think Dada has plans for that one.” He smiled, going over and getting some plates for the three of them.

Vincent looked at Orlando, who only chuckled and wrapped his arms around Jonny’s waist, “Love you guys.” 

“Love you too, Dada!”

Pizza was had and needless to say, all was merry and festive, even if Vincent did not get his cookies.


	2. Day 02: Back to School (Oversized Pre-K Edition)

Jonny groaned about, hearing his alarm go off. Why did he need to get up early? What was going on today? He reached over and turned it off, sitting up a bit. Looking around the room.

Vincent sat patiently at the end of the bed with his beloved sheep, playing on Jonny’s phone. The soft sound of piano played. Orlando was nowhere to be found- expected as it was the first Wednesday of the month, which meant he had to go to the office for a long, long boring meeting about techy things, and business things and it was just boring for the child. So, on these days, Jonny stayed home with him for once.

“Well good morning Vincent, did Dada let you out or did you just climb out on your own?” He chuckled, ruffling his hair a bit. Vincent hummed.

“Dada gave me monies.” He replied, picking at his pajama bottoms.

“Oh he did.” He smiled, picking him up and settling him in his lap. “Are you up for breakfast Vinny?”

Vincent nodded, “Can we have pancakes with maple syrup?”

“Of course you can. Pancakes need the syrup.” He kissed his forehead.

Vincent nodded, getting up and out of his lap, lifting up his sweater paws, “We’re gonna go eat pancakes!” He walked downstairs, holding tightly to the bannister.

He laughed, “Hold on Vince.” He called out to him, getting out and following him downstairs. “Just you and me for a bit, I think we should go out for back to school stuff. Does that sound good to you?” He asked him, getting what he needed for the pancakes.

“Back to school?” The concept never occurred to him really, because when he joined the program, it had moved to mostly online for a time because of a sickness that was going around that affected little boys like him. “School not done?”

“Well it’s mainly just so you can get a few things. Like pencils, paper, and some craft stuff. Also a new backpack.” He explained.

“Backpack...Can I get a sheepy one?” He asked, swinging his feet.

“If we can find one, I don’t see why not.” He went over and set down a plate in front of him. Syrup drizzled on the pancakes. Vincent didn’t waste time and thankfully, Jonny cut his pancakes up so that they didn’t interfere with his ability to eat. He seemed to be quieter at that, it was hard to find a lot of sheep related things that were meant for a boy his size sometimes, mostly in their city.

Jonny sat down after getting his own plate. Looking on his phone for some sheep supplies. Maybe he can find some online.

As it turned out, Etsy was a good source. He smiled slightly and put the perfect bag into the cart, deciding to just get it now rather than trying to look for one at the store. It would be a surprise when it came.

Nonetheless, Vincent finished eating and was subject to the deft work of Jonny and his trusted tool, the dastardly washcloth. 

“No!” Vincent whined, his hands and face being cleaned.

“Yes.” He chuckled, “You got syrup all over you buddy, and no time for bath. So washcloth.”

“No washcloth. Bad.” Vincent glowered at the washcloth after Jonny took away his plate, giving him his morning bottle. After a quick round of dishes, they both got dressed and Vincent was put into his adorable car seat. 

As they learned, Vincent really wasn’t a fan of the carseat, but somehow liked strollers. They didn’t understand it, but it didn’t usually matter.

“Okay, secure, do you want some juice or just gonna be sad until we get to the store?”

Vincent just kicked his legs angrily. Not sad, but rather miffed. “Big boy!”

“I know you are, but it’s okay. It’s just for a little bit.” He told him, giving him Sheepy. Vincent took Sheepy but stuck his tongue out at him. Dear lord though, the New York traffic for back to school was atrocious. 

Even if they lived in the suburbs they weren’t safe. The drive was a lot longer than it should’ve been. It was a bit annoying if anything, but they still got to the store. Jonny getting Vincent out of his carseat and into the stroller. It was easier to get around with him in the stroller, plus it could act as a cart in a way.

Vincent pouted a little since he wanted to look at the pretty stationary, but was obedient nonetheless. Though it was rather cute to see what stationary was available that was both cute and not atrociously priced.

“If I let you out to look around, will you hold onto the stroller while we’re here?” He asked him, since the aisles were pretty busy.

Vincent nodded, “I be good, Papa.”

“I know you will be Vince.” Jonny told him, “It’s just other people that make me worry.” He got him out of the seat.

Vincent held onto the bar of the stroller, watching eagerly, “Papa! Papa! There’s notebooks!”

“I can see. Do you wanna go pick some out?” He asked him, patting his back.

“...Papa go with.” Vincent still did not like people. What a mood.

“I’ll be right here with you.” He told him, going a bit closer to where all the notebooks were.

The system they were using involved having Vincent take six 'classes' during the school week. And for those classes, some required notebooks and other stationary things to keep track of his progress. Three notebooks were necessary this year. Adorably, Vincent chose three adorable notebooks: One of cute ballerina rabbits, another one of unicorns and flowers and the final one being cute rainbows.

This choice of cute girly things continued: Vincent chose a large cinnamoroll pencil pouch to hold all of his plain highlighters, colored pencils and crayons. He preferred mechanical pencils and was pleased to see that they had ones with farm animals all over them- including sheep. 

"What now?" Vincent asked, holding onto the package of mechanical pencils.

“Hmm...I think some paper and some folders. Then we can try and look for a backpack.” He told him.

“But we already gots paper.” Vincent held onto his pencils, and used them to point at the notebooks, “Don’t they gots paper to write on, Papa?”

“Well it’s always good to get some more.” He told him.

Vincent hummed, “But if we have too much paper, we’ll have no room in the backpack. Papa doesn’t like an untidy backpack.” He said as a matter of fact.

“That's true, but it’s always good to have extra paper at home.” He told him, grabbing a couple of stacks. 

Vincent thoughtfully hummed, “We need maths paper too, Papa.”

“Right right.” He grabbed a few stacks of the graphing paper.

The smaller ravenette smiled, but then looked worried, “Do we gotta get skizzors?”

“I don’t think so.” He told him, kissing his cheek. “Anything that you could need scissors for, Dada or I could do for you.”

“Skizzors bad.” Vincent said, looking at the displays of cute kiddy scissors and other kinds of sharp tools of destruction. “Sckizzors hurt.”

“I know Vince.” He ruffled his hair, “That’s why Dada or I will do it.”

“Good.” Vincent nodded, “Bad scissors.”

“I know bud. Let’s go look at other things, okay?” He led him away from the scissors. Vincent stuck his tongue out at the display.

Thankfully, the acquisition of simple pastel colored folders wasn’t nearly as traumatizing and the hunt for glue-sticks proved to be a fun game for the smaller ravenette to partake in.

Jonny watched him, making sure they had everything they could need before they had to leave the store. Telling Vincent that he got him a surprise, but they have to wait until it gets to the house. Vincent seemed very excited at the prospect of such a thing, but waited patiently with his Sheep by the door, since he thought the surprise was Dada coming home early. No such luck. He was very sad. Jonny picked him up, shushing him.

“Dada not coming home yet, I wish that was the surprise, but it’s not.” He kissed his cheek. Vincent looked very sadly at the door, making grabby hands. “I know you want Dada, I know.” He shushed him, rubbing his back. “Do you wanna sit on the couch with me? We can watch a movie.”

“...Wanna watch Care Bears.”

“Okay we can watch that.” He went over and sat with him, turning on the tv.

It was pretty, but needless to say, Vincent was very happy when Orlando came home. Even more happy when he had gotten his backpack two days later.


	3. Day 03: No pants- Slouchy, oversized sweaters only

Watching the clothes dryer dry clothes was fun. It was so pretty, but it probably wouldn’t be fun if Sheepy had a bath and needed to take a ride to dry off. So that’s why Vincent sat on the floor of the basement in just a pair of cute baby pink farm animal padding that had plenty of sheep on it, with Sheepy in his lap- they were far away from the windows which sadly depicted dark clouds that would definitely spell rain later on.

Orlando was folding clothes nearby, some chill rock music playing on the radio. He looked out the window. “Looks like we’ll be getting some rain.” He muttered.

“Rain baaad.” Vincent looked away from the dryer for a moment to look at his Dada, “Papa don’t like mud, no he doesn’t.”

He chuckled, “Yeah he doesn’t like mud. Silly goose.” He poked his cheek.

“Am not goose, am Vincent.” He pouted, but returned to watching the dryer. It seemed to be slowing down, “Dada! Dada! Dryin’ almos’ done.”

“Oh it is, then that means when it beeps we need to get all the clothes out.” He told him.

Vincent nodded determinedly. He wanted to be the best helper.

“The best helper.” He kissed his forehead.

Vincent smiled. “Ye.” He looked at the dryer as it started to beep. “Dryin’s done!” He announced.

“Thank you for telling me.” He chuckled, opening up the dryer. He grabbed the basket and started to get all the clothes into it, they were all warm from the dryer.

Vincent touched one piece of clothing, an oversized acid-wash pullover hoodie that belonged to Jonny, “Waaarm.”

“It is warm, do you wanna wear Papa’s hoodie?” He asked him.

Vincent nodded, “Is warm.” He put on the hoodie, “....Dada wet.”

Orlando chuckled and picked him up, “let’s get you changed then.” He kissed his cheek, carrying him upstairs to the bedrooms.

Vincent held onto his sheep, “Dada warm.”

“You just happy to be all warm now.” He hummed, laying him down to make quick work of getting him changed. Vincent thankfully did not spring a leak the minute his padding was opened, and instead was more interested in his Dada’s hat. Sweet baby boy just wanted all of the things today, it seemed. Fair enough, it looked scary outside.

Orlando just let him mess with his hat, it wasn’t an issue to him so he didn’t mind letting him play with it. He finished up and picked him up, “there we go, all done.”

Vincent put his hat on his head, “Dada’s hat.”

“Aw thank you buddy.” He smiled, “You ready to help me put the clothes away?”

Vincent nodded, “Gotta put ‘way the clothes so we got stuffs to wear.”

“Thats right.” He nodded, going back in the basement to grab the basket. Vincent followed after him on the stairs and...he was rather fast on the steps and accurate too. 

“Gotta put the stuffs ‘way. Gotta put the stuffs ‘way.” He chirped, sitting on the floor next to the dresser to help put things in the bottom dresser, because sometimes Dada’s back hurted.

“So fast.” Orlando chuckled, starting to fold the clothes, before setting some next to Vincent so he can put them in the bottom drawer. Vincent was very peculiar in how he settled the clothes in the drawer, but his sweater paws kept getting in the way, causing him to get a little bit grumbly.

Orlando reached over and pulled his sleeves up, trying to help him free up his hands a bit. Before going back to put away the rest of the clothes, telling Vincent that he was doing a very good job.

Once the clothes were away, Vincent yawned tiredly, going over to Orlando’s bed and just laying down. He was tired.

“Oh I guess it’s naptime.” He chuckled, going over and covering him up with the blanket. Vincent pulled him down.

“Dada nap too.” He demanded, “Dada tired.”

“Okay okay, Dada will lay down with you.” He ran a hand through his hair. Vincent yawned and gently held onto his Dada, burying his head into his neck.

“Dada warm too now.”

He smiled, kissing his head. “Love you Vince.”

“Love Dada too.”

About thirty minutes later, Jonny had arrived home, tired and easily slid in bed with his two boys, not even batting an eyelash of Vincent’s choice of hoodie, since he knew that on some days, all you really needed was a slouchy hoodie and your Dada and Papa for company.


	4. Day 04:  Cuddling during a rainy morning

It was raining. The perpetual, crystalline water pelted pavement, grass, their home- it was calming, and indeed a hallmark of New York in the autumn. It was also very early in the morning, perhaps around 7 in the morning. Normally, Jonny would be already out the door by this time, but the other weight that was decidedly not Vincent told Orlando that it was indeed his short and austere husband, who had not gone into work yet.

In fact, said husband was cuddled into his chest, as was his little boy, and their bedroom’s television depicted the news. It was boringly mundane but so so calming. He could fall asleep like this again, and not wake up for some time. Vincent always loved to sleep in, anyways.

Though something that was not calming was the news. But that was just a given, noting the presidency they unfortunately lived with.

_ “Hurricane Ivory is the fifth category five hurricane to threaten the U.S. since the president took office. However, at a FEMA briefing yesterday, the President said that he's never heard of it. _ "

Jonny turned off the news broadcast, "Let's not deal with the stupidity today...I'm having Toby train a newbie today and I don't want to deal with it right now, so I called him and told him I'd be coming in around 11." He replied, gently kissing Orlando. "Morning."

"Morning to you too." Orlando said, "Is he...?"

"Yep. He climbed in around four. Just changed him about half an hour ago. I think today is okay to just be lazy and cuddle for a bit. We rarely do that." Jonny justified, very satisfied with his position on Orlando's chest and well, Orlando wasn't complaining much.

"Well that's good." He nodded, settling back into the pillows. "So what should we watch during our lazy morning then?"

"Hm...Well, Netflix is always viable. And they've got that collection of Studio Ghibli movies...I don't think you've ever seen Howl's Moving Castle, have you?" Jonny replied, taking the remote and setting up Netflix for them to watch.

"I have not. Well, let's check it out and when Vincent wakes up, we'll watch Totoro?"

"Sounds like a plan, big guy."

All was well on this rainy, quiet morning.


	5. Day 05:  Sippy cup edition: Hot chocolate, pumpkin spice lattes, apple cider

Toby sighed, rubbing his face a bit as he sat down with a slump in the couch. Things had felt off for so long now, and he just couldn’t put his finger on it. Then he’s suddenly asked to look after Vincent, even though the guy was like...in his 30s? Right?

He sighed, “So how long do you need me to watch him, Boss?” He asked.

“I told you, Toby. Orlando and I are stuck in a situation and Erica is busy. It’s just for a few hours.” Jonny told him. Next to him, Vincent was playing with a sheep plushie. Well, hugging it more like. He looked curiously at Toby, as if he didn’t recognize him.

That was another thing that was weird, Jonny was living with Orlando. Then Vince acted like a kid. It was all just too strange. He heard Jonny sigh, looking at his watch.

“Orlando, are you ready?!” Jonny called out.

“I SAID I WAS SORRY! I CAN’T SAY NO TO MY NONNA SHE OFFERED VINNY COOKIES.”

“Just get down here!” He huffed.

Orlando came downstairs, “We’d bring the tyke along, but I don’t think he’d care all that much for a family reunion where he’d be scrutinized by all the old bastards there because he’s the only little in this family and he’s special because he was abused at the adoption center. I would say you know how it is, but I don’t even think Erica brought up you two potentially adopting.”

Toby just blinked a bit as Jonny just pinched the bridge of his nose. “You’re also like, one of four caretakers in your entire family, Orlando. This is gonna be awful.”

“At least my family doesn’t support the bastard in office. Let’s just get going and hopefully we won’t have to hear a bunch of questions like ‘so when is Jonny going to take the womb-growth pill, Orlando’? ‘When are you going to have some biologicals’...God, I want to dieee…”

“This is your fault.” Jonny bent down to Vincent, “Okay we’re gonna go now, Toby’s gonna be here to watch you. I know you don’t know him very well, but he works with me, okay? If you need anything, you know where Dada and Papa’s numbers are right?”

“Mhm.” He nodded, “On the fridge, next to my pichur.”

“That’s right, and we’ll be home by dark.” He kissed his forehead, “Be good, okay?”

“Why are you saying that, babe?” Orlando raised an eyebrow, “Vincent is incapable of being even remotely bad. Half the time when he tries, he does things he thinks he’s not allowed to but we actually couldn’t give less of a shit about. He asked you if he could help with the linens and when you didn’t answer, he tried to put them into the wash himself.”

“Right, right, I guess I don’t need to worry about him.” Jonny stood up, turning to Toby. “You fuck up, you’re dead.”

Orlando chuckled, “You’ll get 20 bucks by the end of this, there’s money on the counter for takeout.” With that, they left and it took Vincent a good ten minutes to realize they were gone and when he did, instead of getting upset...He just sat in front of the front door with his sheep in his lap, just looking at the door, waiting.

Toby sighed and rubbed the back of his head. “So...do you want to do anything, Vince?” He asked, this was weird.

“Nuh-uh. Gotta wait for Dada and Papa.” Vincent seemed to notice his uncomfortable-ness and well...he technically was a stranger to this kid, so no wonder he wasn’t acting like he did in the Stray Sheep. “Sheepy and I wait here.”

“Oh.” He muttered, looking around a bit. “Uhh...but it’s probably no fun to just sit there, right?”

“Is ‘kay.” Vincent replied, “Is kay. You can go watch ‘toons.”

Toby just nodded and went over to the couch, pulling out his phone. Deciding to call Erica, she had to be on break.

“Erica.”

“Toby? What’s wrong? Do you need me to come over?” Of course Erica was briefed on the situation, likely due to the fact that Vincent didn’t know Toby all that well and could be uncomfortable around strangers.

“No no, just...how do I deal with kids?” 

“Well, what’s wrong with Vin?” She asked, before realizing, “Toby, why don’t you just bond with him. Do what you’d like to do on any old Saturday. I’ll be done in about an hour, why don’t we meet up at Starbucks?”

He sighed, “fine, that’s fine. I’m just...I've never handled kids before. I don’t know what I’m doing.” Vincent counted as a kid right? Everyone seemed to think so at least.

Erica sighed, chuckling a bit, “You’re like a new dad in that regard, it’s going to be fine. Vincent just naturally is a bit weird when it comes to strangers. It doesn’t help that the kid’s homeschooled three days a week and Orlando is a stay at home dad. He’s just gotta get used to you.” She pointed out, “I love you, I’ll be done in about an hour, okay? Let’s meet at Starbucks, you know what I want right? I don’t like Pumpkin Spice, you know I like Cinnamon Dolce. I’ll bring you something from work in exchange.”

“Alright. I’ll see you then.” Toby rubbed his face a bit, this was stressful.

Vincent thankfully hadn’t moved from his spot on the floor, but therein laid another problem- he was still in his pajamas.

“Hey Vincent, do you want to get dressed to go out in a bit?”

“Out? We see Papa and Dada?” He asked, holding onto his plushy tight to his chest.

“Well no, but we’re gonna meet up with Erica.”

Vincent gasped, "Aunty Erica?"

Toby nodded, “Yeah, she wanted to meet up with us in a little bit.”

Vincent gasped and left for his bedroom, and when he followed after, the kid was trying to pull on four different jumpers, had somehow gotten out of his pants and had a pair of underwear hanging from his head.

“Okay okay.” He went over and helped him.

Vincent looked scandalized, but allowed it, remembering to be good. What the hell, anything looked really good on him. He wore jeans, a random shirt, a hoodie and a scarf. Oh, and mismatched socks.

“Well this is good enough for heading out.” He made sure everything was on comfortably for him. Vincent eagerly tried to get his cute little trainers on- wait….When had he decided he was cute? 

He finished up, nodding once he was done. “There we go, all ready to go.”

Vincent nodded, stomping his feet and wrapping up his neck in a cute scarf that had a little snowman on it. “Go see auntie?”

“Yea let’s go see her.” Toby nodded, making sure he had everything before heading out with him.

Meeting at their local starbucks, after a good twenty minutes. Toby had to figure out exactly how to put Vincent’s carseat into his car, after all. What was even more surprising was how it fit so securely, like it was meant there...

What even was this reality. Nothing just made sense to him, he sighed quietly, before getting Vincent into the car. 

Vincent kicked his legs, “Staawwwbucks.”

He smiled at him, “Yeah we're gonna go to Starbucks.” He nodded, patting his knee. He finished getting him strapped in, after struggling a bit, all the while, just so confused internally.

When they finally arrived at the place, Toby could see Erica’s car waiting in one of the car plots, herself having exited the vehicle and changed into a comfortable looking cream jumper, a brown leather jacket, some jeans and some sneakers. Her hair, longer than he had ever known it to be, was tied off in a fishtail braid. She looked gorgeous.

He blinked a bit in surprise, getting Vincent out of the car before going up to her. “Hey.”

“Hey.” She smiled, “Oh there’s the muffin man! You want to get some breakfast with Auntie Erica and Uncle Toby?”

“Ye!” Vincent nodded, “Can I has choccy?”

“Oh of course you can have some hot chocolate, honey.” She smiled, picking him up.

Toby nodded a bit, “I can go get it. What did you want Erica?”

“Can you get me a Cinnamon Dolce Latte? Whole milk, Venti. Get Vince a Whole Milk, Short Hot Chocolate.” Erica explained, “And make sure that they put a kids’ lid on it, we don’t want Vince to hurt himself.”

Toby nodded and went up to the counter, ordering himself a drink. He went with something cold, since his body was on fire from everything. Before getting the rest of the order.

About 5 minutes later, he had a drink carrier full of drinks and three straws...Oh yeah, he had to ask for that kid lid or whatever.

He looked over, “Um can I get a kids lid for the hot chocolate?”

“Oh, of course.” The employee gave him a...plastic sippy cup lid, “Would you like for me to exchange them for you?”

“That’d be great.” He took out the hot chocolate and set it on the counter.

The employee replaced the lid and well...it definitely looked like a kids drink now. Vincent seemed very happy, kicking his feet as he waited with Erica, who was telling stories about Toby that Toby hadn’t even told the guys.

“Thank you.” He took the drink and went over to the two. “Are you talking shit about me Erica?” He asked.

“Language.” Erica patted him on the back roughly, “But no. I was telling Vince that you’re not a bad guy, you’re just a dork and I was telling him about that time you snorted chocolate milk because I made you laugh.”

“That hurt pretty bad, I’ll have you know.” He set down the drinks.

“You say that, but you were laughing for twenty minutes afterwards.” Erica giggled, “Anyways, thanks for buying the drinks. I’ll buy your beers tonight when you go to the Stray Sheep.”

“Thank you.” He sat down, “How long are you working tonight?”

“Closing shift.” She explained, “Though it’s not too bad. I did work the breakfast shift at The Pastry Owl.”

Vincent looked at her, “Aunty Erica nap?”

“Nah, not yet.” She smiled, taking a sip of the coffee given. “I’ll be making sure Uncle Toby doesn’t get you into things you shouldn’t be given.”

“Hey. I’m not that irresponsible.” He huffed.

“You say that, but don’t you remember how you didn’t buy groceries for two weeks until I stayed over at your place, not only forcing you to get some groceries, but also cleaning up your space? You can’t be productive in a pig pen, Toby. I love you sweetie, but you need to pick up your stuff, you’re not a little guy like Vin. You can’t get away with it.” Even still, kissing his cheek and just offering some guidance, Erica was sweet in her own blunt and sarcastic way. Vincent just sipped on his hot chocolate, happy with the situation at hand. He would not only get to spend a day with his most favorite Aunty Erica, but he would get to make a new friend.

And at the expense of Toby, a little coffee shop babysitting adventure was great.


	6. Day 06: Leaf Piles! Help a neighbor rake them up and then jump in them!

Today, Rin was watching Vincent for his two neighbors, as they were busy fixing a pipe and were too stubborn to call a plumber. It was a warm day, but there were leaves absolutely everywhere in the yard and that simply couldn’t do. And well, reading online told Rin that Vincent would find plenty of fun outside in said piles of leaves. 

So they worked hard to rake up all the leaves and then, Vincent was told to jump in the pile they had worked so on. This greatly confused him.

“Bu’ why?”

“I read that it’s a fun thing to do.” Rin replied, “Like sliding down a slide. Half of the fun’s climbing it, right? So once you jump in it, we’ll rake it up all over again.”

“An fun?”

“And it’s fun. So go on.” The pink haired angel encouraged and with that encouragement, Vincent decided to back up before taking a running jump into the pile of leaves.

As it turned out, jumping in piles of leaves were fun.

What was not so fun was the itchy feeling after they tired themselves out.


	7. Day 07:  Getting a bath after playing in the leaf piles

Going inside once one tired themselves out with playing out in the chilly weather both sucked and was great. On one hand, you were nice and tired and could easily settle in for some hot chocolate and maybe a disney movie or four. On another hand though….Well, tiring oneself out included getting all hot, sweaty, and in poor Vincent’s case, incredibly itchy. It would be a good idea to take a nice warm bath after all that fun playing in the leaf piles- raking them up, diving into the piles, raking them up again…

The leaves did eventually get put into trash-bags and left on the curb, but it now left the problem of one very sweaty and itchy Vincent.

So, to set the mood for some fun in the bath, Rin decided a bubble bath was in order. After quickly consulting Erica that yes, a capful of bubble bath stirred under warm water was more than doable to create bubbles and no, they would not need to go to someplace like Lush just to give Vincent a bubble bath.

In the meantime while Rin was having this small crisis, Vincent sat on the counter in just his padding, playing with his Sheepy and assuring her that no, he wouldn’t die in the water. He just wanted to get all nice and clean but if she were to go in the water, her fur would get all icky and that wouldn’t be very nice.

Rin eventually got things sorted and a bath of epic proportions was set up for the light curly-haired raven. The bubbles were hollywood style and the water smelled sweet and once Vincent was lowered in, he melted into the bath with ease. If he had any contents left in his bladder, they’d be released without a second thought. Thankfully, the water stayed untainted and the boy busied himself with several tugboats, including the S.S. Windermere, which Vincent had named when he was being watched by Orlando’s rather posh mother.

In terms of bath time, Vincent was a rather easy child to to wash. He was incredibly cooperative and didn’t fuss if you got in the way of his playing while trying to clean him. The only thing he really didn’t like, which was understandable, was that he didn’t like water in his ears.

Thus, Rin had to be very careful in making sure that no water got in his ears when washing his hair with that special no-tangles shampoo and conditioner. Carefully, Rin worked on such a task, being gentle but firm in his task.

There weren't many words to be spoken, but that was okay. Bath-time didn’t have to be elaborate storytelling, splashing and just generally being a rowdy, watery mess. It could be quiet, good quality time together with not much words needing to be said. It wasn’t necessary.


	8. Day 08: Wearing fall themed cloth diapers

Sometimes, people wondered how Orlando could fall for scams like Kappa fishing and overpriced goods that sell for ridiciously less on Aliexpress and Amazon, with a mother like Lacey. She was a teacher, mostly substituting nowadays as she was getting up in age, but it confused everyone greatly as to how he could fall for such things with a smart woman like her raising him.

Lacey Haddick, nee Templeton, was the type of grandmother who sewed, enjoyed a good book, and was iconic and modernist when it came to her fashion choices. She took her coffee with lots of milk and three spoonfuls of sugar. She was the type of person to say 'Onward and upward! It's all about positive thinking!'

So it was interesting to say the least during that luncheon when

Orlando got a text from his mother with an image attached.

_ From Mom _

_ Subject: Vinny's new drawers _

_ So I finally took the plunge and learned how to sew some cloth diapers.  _

_ Look at your little model, not half bad for a 5th attempt.  _

_ By the way, your kitchen is a disorganized mess. I told you, you have to get a divider for your silverware and your glass containers shouldn't go with your metal containers or your plastic containers! This is why you can't find anything and why Vinny doesn't have those aesthetic lunches I see on that blasted instagram app. I organized it for you, but don't mess this up again, okay? _

_ I love you, have a great day! _

Orlando took a look at the picture. Vincent, who wasn’t even looking at the camera and instead was watching...it looked like How To Train Your Dragon, maybe, wearing just his new pair of padding, a black pair, with...a tail coming off of it, and a Toothless themed hoodie.

Well then, this was a thing that was happening.

To Mom

Subject: Re: Vinny’s new drawers

_ They look great mom. Are they supposed to fit with his hoodie? 5th attempt or not they look good. _

_ Also yeah I know, but you know how it is. It's hard to keep things organized sometimes, even when I’m home often. _

Well at least getting butt pics at work was a good way to liven things up.


	9. Day 09: Storytime: Scare-Free Edition

Orlando sat with Vincent in their storytime chair, the boy delicately perched in his lap with a warm sippy cup full of hot chocolate. It was especially cold, today, so there would be no playing outside today. However, a fun story never hurt anyone. And this story would be scare-free. He didn’t want to scare his baby, especially when this was going to be his first proper autumn season

“Hey Vinny, are you ready for your story? We’re going to read a story about Clifford. You like Clifford?”

“Uhuh.”

“Well this is a story about Clifford’s first experience with autumn.” Orlando explained, “You ready to listen?”

“Mhm.”

"Clifford's First Autumn, by Norman Bridwell." Orlando read, before turning the page and gave the funniest falsetto voice, it sounded a lot like Toad, "Hi! I'm Emily Elizabeth and I have a dog named Clifford. When Clifford was a tiny puppy, he loved the summertime. We went to play in the park every day."

Vincent couldn't help but giggle, "Dada, das wrong!"

"What? What's wrong? Did I read it wrong?" 

"Noooo, Emily Elizabeth doesn't sound like that, she sounds like Aunty Erica!" Vincent corrected, taking a sip of his hot chocolate.

"Oh yes, I suppose your right. Emily Elizabeth shouldn't sound like Toad. My mistake." He reread the part before continuing on, thankfully. "On the way home, we always stopped to smell the flowers. Then summer ended. One morning, Clifford woke up to hear the radiator hissing. I picked him up so he could see outside the window. He was surprised to see smoke coming out of his nose! It was just his breath in the frosty morning air. Fall had come. I put on a warm coat and took Clifford out. The park looked different, there were leaves all over the ground.

"Dada, Clifford looks 'fused." Vincent pointed out before counting some of the leaves on the page. Orlando nodded.

"That's because in summer, all the leaves aren't on the ground, right?"

"Right!"

"Clifford couldn't chase the birds. They were all flying south. The flowers were gone, and there were pumpkins in their place. Clifford had never seen pumpkins before." Vincent counted all the pumpkins on the page, though his numbers got confused. It was rather cute. Orlando continued, "Uh-oh! He jumped up and CRASH! Pumpkins rolled all over the street. What a mess, right Vinny?"

"Clifford was bad. He gotta sit." Vincent nodded.

"Now where did Clifford go? Sometimes Clifford was a naughty puppy. We said goodbye to the store owner and went into the park. A gust of wind blew more leaves off the treats. At first, Clifford was frightened." Orlando hummed, "Hey Vinny, what sound does wind make?"

"Whoosh!" 

"Good job!" Orlando smiled, "Then he started to chase the leaves. It was fun!! We saw a big pile of fallen leaves. Clifford plunged in. Wheeee! That was even more fun! Then, a strange object bounced right in front of Clifford. What's that strange object, Vin?"

"Foo'ball!"

"Great job." The blonde kissed his cheek, "You're so smart. There was a long string on it. Clifford took hold of the string...and he ran. Suddenly a boy grabbed the object. I guess he didn't see Clifford. A lot of kids came running after the boy. One girl shouted, 'Hey, there's a puppy on the football!" Orlando hummed, "What a dense kid, I think Clifford weighed about as much as any regular old small dog by this point, so bullcrap he didn't see him."

"Right." Vincent nodded, "Bad boy! He hasta sit on the naughty stool!"

"Mhm. Thankfully, the boy dropped the ball and Clifford took it and ran." Orlando explained, "He crossed the white line, and all of the kids cheered. Clifford had scored a touchdown! Those kids told me Clifford was a very special dog. They should see him now. The end. Did you like that story, Vinny?"

"Yeah! Dada, Clifford good boy."

"He is, isn't he?"


	10. Day 10:  Wearing a seasonal onesie/footie

Orlando didn’t vlog frequently. Maybe three times a month, most of the time the stuff he did for his Youtube channel, when he was done with work and Vincent was sleeping was to be a source for the internet for all the dark, mysterious, horrifying, and strange things to be found in the world’s realm, initially spurred on by his interest in the folklore surrounding kappa. Reviews, explanations, stories, and more. Those videos went up as soon as his research, scripting and other things were done.   
But when he was bored, Vincent wanted to do something cute, he’d pull out the vlogging camera.  
 **VINCENT’S FALL FASHION 20XX || OOTD + HAUL**  
That was the name of the video for today.  
Oh boy.  
Thankfully, Vincent was in the mood for dress up and he couldn’t help himself; it was so cute.  
“Hey guys, welcome back to The Witchling Hour, friends. I am your host, Orlando Haddick coming to you from a very cold but incredibly fashionable merry new york and today, I have some cute fashion things. Some of these things my mother sewed for the boy in question, other things are from Target and Carter’s.” Orlando sat on the very comfortable, plush rug with the fake fire roaring behind him offering warmth. “Now where is the boy in question you may ask yourself dear viewer? Well, his lordship is currently playing on his tablet waiting for dress up time because I wanna talk first a little bit. It’s been a minute since I uploaded my last video.”  
He smiled, “It’s been a minute, it’s been a minute. So, beyond my analysis on ‘This Room Doesn’t Exist’ and the movie review on the atrocity that will not be named for it is an atrocity but pisses on the grave of Marble Hornets, I’ve been busy with work and we’re gearing up for a road trip over to California to visit Jonny’s relatives before they leave for Switzerland for the holidays and won’t be back until January 25th. As for Vin, he’s doing great. His night terrors come and go, but they’ve been dwindling for sure. Now onto the topic of today’s video, Jonny and I have been working on the seasonal shopping early so we’re not dying before christmas, and lemme tell you guys, the shit we found is so effin’ cute. Hey Vinny, do you wanna play dress up now while I explain to the nice people where I got your clothes and probably ramble in the process?”  
“Ye.” Vincent mumbled, setting down his tablet. Making sure to be very careful with putting it down, slowing inching it down on the couch. Before he got up and went to his Dada.  
Orlando picked him up, “So there will be a lot of jump cuts in this video obviously, because we don’t need to show the world and its mother your cute butt.”  
“Gonna play dress up.” He smiled, holding onto him.  
“Yeah, we’re gonna play dress up.” Orlando snapped his fingers.  
“Yay!” Vincent clapped his hands.  
 **OUTFIT 1: Fall Casual (Ft. Some Super Stinkin' Cute Booties)**  
"For the record, as I film gratuitously of how cute Vincent looks in this outfit, I want to say that I feel like if you don't shop like 2-4 months in advance of all the cute Little clothing for that season, you will be unfortunate to not have said cute Little clothing because all the pretentious karens and susans will snap that shit up like piranhas on a piece of steak in the water. I know these things, I was a fisherman for like 2 years. Target for example, Target lately has been giving me major anxiety- like I'll get an email from Target being like 'oh here's some new arrivals here for you' and then when I go to shop there, there will be 'None, none of the cute things you are promised are here sorry' because I waited a day to do the shopping. But back to the clothing, starting from the toes, you will see that Vinny is rocking those cute brown little ankle booties, give a little kick for me, Vin!”  
Vincent giggled and kicked his leg a little bit.  
"Good job~." He cooed, "Going from the shoes, we have some light blue acid wash jeans and they're also paired with a rather bee-utiful burnt orange crew neck sweater that'll keep my Vin nice and warm. I actually have one similar to this but in olive green and maybe during a lazy day we'll match. All of these things came from Target, the link will be in the description."  
“Comfy.” He nodded, wrapping his arms around himself.  
“Does it get the Vincent seal of excellency?”   
“Baahh!” He nodded, “Yeah!”  
 **OUTFIT 2: Give Thanks To The Gods for Vincent**  
"This next outfit is going to be the outfit we wear next month when we go out to Nevada to see my parents for Thanksgiving, strike a pose in those cute brown corduroy overalls, Vin!"  
Vincent smiled and raised his arms up, waving to his Dada and to the camera. “Can pose, but dunno what to do.”  
“I think as long as you’re doing your best, you’re doing fantastic.” Orlando encouraged, “I know you find it funny when you play with Maddie and you play runway. Do you remember any moves from playing runway?”  
“Ummm...Dis one.” He let one hand fall to his side while the other rested on his hip. “I think.”  
"And then underneath the overalls, he's wearing a cream colored long sleeve t-shirt with all sorts of forest friends- I see some racoons, some moose, some skunks and some bears. Perfect for my little forest fellow. Speaking of forest fellows, I know the title says Target and Carter's, but his shoes are some custom Little Forest Fellow Sneakers I found on Etsy and I love them on Vin."  
“Nice.” He smiled, looking up at his Dada.  
 **OUTFIT 3: Bewear My Bear**  
"So Vin got side tracked with Pokemon for a little bit, but I think this black and white striped hooded onesie is going to be perfect for those cold-ass nights in November where we're driving down the highway in the new RV, and get this." Orlando flipped up the hoodie on Vincent, "It's got little bear ears, and paired with this, he's wearing some comfy joggers."  
“Dada lookit, issa poliwhirl.” He pointed at the screen, showing the pokemon in question.  
“Oh I see, I see your poliwhirl, what’s up with his hands, they’re so weird.” He tickled him, “Ready to get back into dress up?”  
“Yeaaa.” He nodded, giggling happily.  
 **OUTFIT 4: Meet Me At The Apple Orchard**  
"A simple outfit, probably a basic outfit, but I couldn't help it. buffalo check and shortalls just...ah, my heart. It's black check, button up shirt with some little overalls that have a little squirrel patch pocket."  
“Dada heart hurt?” Vincent looked up at him, worried that something happened to Orlando.  
“No honey, you’re fine. I’m just swooning cause you’re too cute for my heart.” He kissed his forehead, “We’re going apple picking in a few days since you went and picked up pumpkins with Nonna.”  
“Oh yeah.” He nodded, “That was fun.”  
“Hey comments, let me know if you want a video on either the pumpkin carving or the apple picking. Either way.” He shrugged.  
 **OUTFIT 5: My First Halloween Beetch**  
"So during the day, before we get Vinny his costume, we're going to have him wear this simple onesie, long sleeved and he can wear jeans if he wants that day, I have him wearing some staple orange and white striped stockings right now, it says 'Dada Is My Boo' with a little ghostie friend holding a candy bucket."  
“It's got a ghostie.” Vincent pointed at the little ghost on his onesie. He smiled.  
“Yeah. Is it comfy? Are you gonna wear that before we go trick or treating?” Orlando asked, as the door was heard opening. “Oh. The husband has arrived home. Vinny, go show Papa your onesie.”  
“I like it.” He smiled before running over to the doorway. “Papa! Lookit!” He called, raising his arms up to Jonny.  
“Cutting this short because bae does not like cameras.” Orlando muttered.  
He said his usual outro, edited the video, uploaded it and was deeply surprised at how many views it got, though he wasn’t really surprised. Any video with Vincent was bound to do better because cute baby, plus sexy papa equals profits.


	11. Day 11:  Pumpkin carving! Or Turnips, if you’re a traditional witch.

Pumpkins. Festive fall gourds that were decorated in a variety of ways. Some were pinteresty-white-yellow, others were shrek green and theirs of choice?   
Classic orange.  
They had already picked out the the pumpkins of their choosing and had even decorated some already.   
But the one they were focused on was for Vincent's school, because they were doing a contest. So they let Vincent draw, supervised, with a sharpie on his pumpkin beforehand so they could carve it. Why were they carving it and not just doing some pinteresty-mom 5-minute crafts bullshit?  
Because they were men and they didn't want to sink that low quite yet.  
So, they let him draw on it. Then, came time for the actual carving.  
"Are we sure this is a good idea?" Jonny raised an eyebrow as Orlando sat at the kitchen table with the baby on his lap. The pumpkin was pre-gutted because they didn't want him to get freaked out, so all they had to do was actually carve it.  
"Well I mean, are we really going to sink to the level of facebook pinterest moms who act like their kids are the next mozart?"  
"No, but is it really a good idea to let Vincent use carving tools?"  
"Don't worry. I'll get him started." Orlando hummed. "Alright Vin, do you want to stab the knife into the pumpkin?"  
"...Yea." Little hands on the knife and bigger hands gently guiding, Vincent decided to just...poke it first with the knife, not even leaving a nick on the darned thing, before Orlando helped him actually insert the knife through the hollow pumpkin so they could actually carve it. This apparently tired out Vincent and he tapped out.  
Orlando ended up having to actually carve the pumpkin, following Vincent's guidelines...and they actually won third place in the contest.


	12. Day 12: Taking an autumn stroll, in the stroller edition

The trees were aflame with color, turning from various shades of green to deeper shades of orange, red and yellow. It was a kaleidoscope of colors, a festival of colors, a season to behold nature's palette.  
Autumn days were in full force in beautiful, merry New York. Its gorgeous trees and their leaves at the peak of their splendor.   
The breeze moved through the trees as they blowed and swayed, some branches becoming bare as they quivered in the wind.   
Leaves of red and gold gently fluttered to the ground, each falling leaf bringing New York closer and closer to the bustling winter season. Squirrels foraged and chipmunks hid their nuts as they prepared to hibernate. The days grew shorter and the nights grow longer as the sound and sight of geese migrating south became a common sight to see in the sky.  
It was time to put away the tank tops and shorts and pull out the jumpers and padded jeans, to turn in flip-flops and sandals for thick wooly socks and boots.   
But most importantly, as the crunch of decaying leaves were underboot and stroller wheel, it was time to appreciate the beauty of the most colorful season, to take in the sweet smell of the cool, fall air.  
Jonny could see his breath as he pushed the stroller carrying his sweet little boy who was just so fascinated with how the leaves changed right before his eyes. Orlando walked beside him, carrying their drinks for him. Jonny absolutely despised Pumpkin Spice, but as soon as fall rolled by he just couldn't help himself with the chai tea latte. Orlando however, had no such qualms against the popular drink and happily sipped at it as he chatted away about things that didn't really matter.  
Apparently there was going to be a reboot of some show from their teenage years and he was so hyped for it. But as he spoke so passionately on how he hoped the producers of this redux production would get the feeling of the original right, he just was reminded how much he loved this man and their little.   
Sometimes, one just had to get lost in their thoughts while taking an autumn stroll.


	13. Day 13:  Going apple picking/pumpkin choosing

Today, Jonny and Vincent were going to go to Erica's family farm to pick apples. Erica's grandfather owned an apple orchard in addition to cows and other farm animals so after breakfast with the woman in question, they were off.   
"Erica?"  
"Yes sweetie?"  
"Whassa farm like?"  
"Well, a farm is where you grow lots of food. My grandpa grows apples and he raises cows, chickens and pigs." Erica explained, "It's a bit stinky in the barn, but it'll be a good time, I promise."  
"Big animals?"  
"Yes Vince, there will be big animals." Erica ruffled his hair, sitting next to him in the RV. "Now why don't you demolish these pancakes? They got the syrup you like and everything."  
And not only did Erica's grandfather Huxley had big animals, he also had an extremely energetic dog named Butch which immediately showered Erica with affection.  
"Jeez, Butch, I love you too, chill!" Erica laughed. Vincent was scared, so Jonny kept hold of him, "From what I understand, Grandpa's out milking the cows today, so we have free reign of the apple orchard. He said we can pick as many as we'd like, since we're helping him harvest."  
"Sounds good, lead the way." Jonny nodded, rubbing Vincent's back.   
Butch was left in the house and they went into the orchard, where beautiful trees filled with apples of various ripeness were ready to be picked and baked into various dishes. As they walked to the orchard, Erica explained the difference between ripe apples and unripe apples.  
"So apples ripen from the outside of the tree towards the trunk. We want apples that are firm and don't have any nicks or bruises, because then they're sad apples and that's no good."  
"Bu' how pick?" Vincent asked, holding onto Sheepy and his Papa.  
Erica hummed, "Well, why don't you come over to me and I'll show you, okay?"   
Vincent did as asked and Erica picked him up, "Remember what I said, okay? We want really strong apples and that aren't all banged up. See one?"  
Erica held him up to a tree and he nodded.  
"Alright, what you're gonna do is you're gonna grab it gently, if you pinch the apple you're gonna hurt it, and we don't wanna hurt the apple, it'll go bad quicker. You got a good grasp now carefully lift up the apple and what you're gonna do is you're going to twist it, like you do a doorknob. Be gentle! Don't pull on the fruit or shake the branch, if you keep the stem on it, it'll last longer."  
Vincent successfully grabbed the apple and he waved it around excitedly, "Didja see Papa, didja?"  
"I did see, Vin. Good job." Jonny smiled.  
"Don't throw the apple in the bag now, act like it's an egg. So you have to be gentle." Erica pointed out, helping him put the fruit into the bag.   
This routine continued for several trees, with Jonny becoming involved and Erica helping Vincent. They ended up bagging two large tote bags worth of apples. One bag they'd be keeping and one bag would be given to Orlando's mother.  
These would become various dishes- Apple pie, caramel apples, apple butter, apple crisp, apple cider, apple crisps, applesauce, apple jam and various other dishes including Brown Betty.  
It would not be October without copious amounts of Brown Betty and Cider.


	14. Day 14:  Baking pies: Apple/Pumpkin/Pecan...Possibilities are endless

Vincent was up earlier than usual, probably excited about the little get together they were having with a few of their friends and the fact that they had to cook for an army. This being said, the sun was just starting to come up and he knew his Papa and Dada would still be tired. They always were after a night of drinking at the Stray Sheep. But he couldn’t help himself. He sat up in the crib, scooting over to the bars and using them to pull himself to his knees.

“M’awake now, pease.” he called. Vincent waited patiently for his Dada or his Papa- it didn't matter how long it took because he knew they would always come for him. They always did, even if sometimes it took a little longer because drinking the funny juice made your head hurt lots if you drank too much. Sure enough, Jonny came in, the door creaking open. The asian male looked more tired than usual, giving a jaw cracking yawn as he approached the crib, clad in just a pair of red buffalo check pajama bottoms and a black tanktop.

“You are awake, huh,” he said with a smile, seeing Vincent bright eyed and practically bouncing with energy. “Well at least you’re in a good mood. Let’s get you changed.” Vincent sometimes didn't like being changed if it was too early in the morning and his room was cold, but it seemed his excitement for a big party with all of their friends had no room for complaints today and squirming. The boy held out his arms for Jonny and the caregiver carefully hefted Vincent up and onto his hip before laying him on the changing table, unzipping the white fleece footed pajamas and easing his legs out of them. “We are pleasant this morning, aren’t we,” Jonny said with a smile, getting Vincent into a fresh diaper and started to tuck him back into his jammies but Vincent protested, pulling his feet away.

“No jammies,” he argued.

“Why no jammies? But it's got sheep on it, baby. You love sheep.”

“Can’t wear jammies to dinner, Papa." Vincent told him like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Gotta get dressed. Gotta make snaacks.”

Vincent chuckled, kissing his baby boy's belly and much to Vincent's relief, did not give him raspberries. “Well I’m glad you’re so excited but dinner isn’t until later. I don’t know if the others are even awake yet and everyone has to get things cooked.”

“We can go help, I wanna make pie...” Vincent supplied. Jonny was incredibly proud of Vincent's eagerness when just a few months ago, it was just Dada, Papa and Auntie Erica- no one else, he'd be a wreck about the whole thing. Eagerness was appreciated but....six in the morning was just a wee bit too early to go to Erica's. Especially when he wasn't sure if Toby went home with Erica the night previous.

“I’m glad you’re so happy to see everyone. But we have things we have to do first.” He tucked Vincent's feet back into his jammies, this time only with mild protest. “And Papa had to work last night, remember?” 

“Oh,” Vincent said softly. He’d forgotten about that. When Papa had to work nights for deadlines he needed to sleep longer so he wasn’t grumpy and snappy. While Papa could be grumpy, Dada was downright scary if you woke him up after he worked at night. “How long do we gotta wait?”

“Well it’s six now. We go pick up Nonna at ten.”

Vincent whined, covering his face with his blanky again in frustration. "We're never eber gonna get there, Papa!"

“I promise it’ll go faster than you think. We only got two-and-a-half hours until it’s time to wake up Dada." He picked Vincent up again, giving him his good morning kiss as they made their way downstairs. “In the meantime, you can watch cartoons or help Papa make a pie. What do you think?”

Vincent loved to help and getting to make something that would go to the dinner with them had him even more excited. “Pie,” he answered animatedly. “How do we make it!”

Jonny smiled and set Vincent on his feet in the kitchen. “Well first you wash your hands.”

Not only did they make pumpkin pie, but they also made a spiced bourbon apple pie. Unsurprising to anyone ever, it was incredibly messy to make with a toddler in the kitchen but Vincent was happy he got to test the extra filling with his Papa before breakfast. So worth the early bath. Despite his wiggling, Vincent was dried off and finally dressed before he was allowed to finally go bug Dada to get up for the day.

“Papa, you gotta wake up,” Vincent squealed, “Wake up, wake up! We gotta go get Nonna so we can go to dinner!”

Orlando groaned into his pillow, burying his face deeper in. Whoever fucked up that line of coding that cause their whole program to be needing to be rewritten within a span of 12 hours so they didn't miss the deadline could eat his fat fucking dick. He was still terribly tired from that, combined with the booze but he really couldn't be too upset. Not when he could hear how happy their baby was. Vincnet moved closer, crawling up to Orlando when he didn’t open his eyes right away.

"Dadaaaa." he whined. He tugged one of Orlando's eyelids open to try and get his attention.“We can’t go if you don’t wake up.”

Orlando hummed a bit, rolling over dramatically so Vincent was trapped beneath his arm and hugging him tight when the ravenette started to squirm. “Five more minutes....This is the wiggliest teddy bear I’ve ever seen,” he teased. "Jon, where’d you get this thing?”

"Dada noooo," Vincent whined, but had a smile on his face nonetheless. He pushed at Orlando's arm. “C’mon. It’s morning. We gotta get ready.”

Orlando lifted his head, blinking his eyes open and looking down at Vincent“Hey. You ain’t a teddy bear- You’re just my little Vin-Vin.” He tickled Vincent's belly, making the boy wriggle more and giggle as he tried to escape.

"Dadaaa," Vincent protested through giggles. "Papa, help!”

Thankfully, Jonny took mercy on Vincent and picked him up, chuckling, “Alright, alright. C’mon, Dada. Go get in the shower so I can get in. You don’t wanna keep Nonna waiting.”

“I’m goin’,” Orlando reassured him, finally sitting up and stretching. told him. “You sure you got him? He’s a squirmy little thing today.”

“I got it,” Jonny nodded, “Go on. And make it quick."

Vincent nodded too, letting Jonny carry him into the living room for some cartoons while the pies baked. He’d been looking forward to this all week. Nonna had bought special outfits for the three of them, insisting she wanted pictures. Papa didn’t seem too happy about it but Vincent couldn’t wait. By nine thirty they were all bathed and dressed to go. Jonny was hating the red button up and the fact that he couldn't wear his jacket, but Vincent was very much happy at the matching apparel.

Jonny sighed. It was all for the kid…

Vincent ran to the door happily, waiting for them to join him. He’d been waiting all week for this. Jonny got him buckled into his car seat and climbed in on his other side. Orlando took the driver's seat, his Nonna Lacey always sat in front when she went places with them. She was nice and Vincent liked her. Especially when she came to babysit. She was older, about the same age as Erica's grandfather Huxley and very active. They pulled up outside her townhouse in Soho and Dada got out to help her carry her things to the car. His Nonna always cooked for an army. It was super yummy.

“Is that my Vincent I see,” Orlando’s mother greeted as she climbed into the passenger’s seat.

“Hi Nonna," he answered. “I made a pie. Two! Two pie. Filling was niiiice.”

“Did you? Well I can’t wait to try it,” Nonna Lacey told him with a proud smile.

Vincent shook his head. “You gotta. Dada an' Papa says dinner first.” Vincent frowned deeply as everyone laughed at that. What was so amusing- it was the rules. You gotta follow the rules or you don't get pie. Or cookies. Or anything.

"That’s exactly right, lambchop." Jonny reached over and mussed his hair.

"Jonathan Ariga, don’t make me hurt you,” Orlando warned, staring his partner down in the rearview mirror. With Nonna and her side dishes, including her famous sweet potatoes safely in the car they were off.

Spoiler alert, the pies were delicious.


	15. Day 15:  Snuggling with a Friend/Lover/Caregiver on the couch while reading a book or watching seasonal tv shows/movies

_ Do not stand at my grave and weep. I am not there, I do not sleep. I am a thousand winds that blow, I am the diamond glints on snow. I am the sunlight on ripened grain, I am the gentle autumn rain. I am the swift uplifting rush of quiet birds in circled flight, I am the soft stars that shine at night. Do not stand at my grave and cry. _

  * _Mary Elizabeth Frye_



Led through the mist, by the milk light of the moon. All that is lost was revealed. Our long bygone burdens, mere echoes of the spring. But where shall we go and where shall we end? If dreams cannot come true, then why not pretend?

Currently: Orlando and Jonny were watching a miniseries called Over The Garden Wall with Vincent. It was screened by the black haired car-dealer and deemed not to scary to watch with him, much to Vincent’s excitement, but as they watched on, knowing there was only a finite amount of episodes and that the series wasn’t exactly new was unfortunate and it made the sheep loving boy very sad. 

This being said, he still wanted to watch the show and wasn’t disappointed with the visuals or the soundtrack.

_ “Oh, we're going to the Pasture to meet Adelaide and ask her if she has a way to send us back where we came from. I don't know who she is or how she is or when, what, why she is.” _

_ “But as for where she is, she is where we will go.” _

_ “To Adelaide, to Adelaide. C'mon and join the Adelaide Parade. Adelaide, To Adelaide. We're going to Adelaide's house today.” _

It was a dark and dreary afternoon, perfect for hot chocolate, cozy pajamas and watching scary stuff with snuggles. Vincent was in heaven, both his Dada and Papa home for today. They were on the sixth episode out of ten, and they still had a long ways away from getting to the finale.

But a good dark day like today was perfect for a series like this.

And honey, they had a big storm coming.


	16. Day 16:  Baking gingerbread

_ Raindrops on roses _

_ And whiskers on kittens _

_ Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens _

_ Brown paper packages tied up with strings _

_ These are a few of my favorite things _

Nonna made this recipe often and it never ever last long. Dada insisted that it was because it was super easy to make and had lots of molasses, which was really slow, but tasted really good. 

Papa said that it always came good no matter what.

So every fall, from his understanding at least, Nonna would come from her house in Soho for a weekend to their home in Brooklyn and bake lots of things. Including gingerbread.

Vincent never had gingerbread before, but apparently you had to use unsulphured molasses, whatever that meant. Nonna was very anal about it being unsulphered.

_ Cream-colored lambs and crisp pumpkin strudels _

_ Doorbells and sleigh bells _

_ And stroganoff with noodles _

_ Pretty angels that fly with the moon on their wings _

_ These are a few of my favorite things _

The oven was hot and he knew he wasn't allowed to touch it, but that didn't stop him from sitting in front of it. It smelled yummy and he was waiting patiently.

_ Boys in white pampers with pink satin sashes _

_ Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes _

_ Silver-white winters that melt into springs _

_ These are a few of my favorite things _

Gingerbread tasted good. It was moist and melted in his mouth.

Nonna insisted that he tried some while it was still warm because when it was cold, although still yummy, wasn't nearly as good.

She topped it with whipped cream and ice cream, making it super yummy.

_ When the dog bites _

_ When the bee stings _

_ When I'm feeling sad _

_ I simply remember my favorite things _

_ And then I don't feel so bad _


	17. Day 17: Preparing for a long road trip: shopping in the mall edition

Shopping in the mall was...an interesting experience with Vincent added to the mix. He was the type of little one to get side tracked if left out of the stroller. Combined with being cute as a button...Yeah, they’ve had some interesting tales come out of the Queens Center Shopping Mall.

Today, they had to be here because Orlando accidentally got rid of a good portion of the things that would be necessary to keep Vincent happy during a 3 day road trip to California in order to spend a weekend with Jonny’s cousins and their little girl. Not to mention the fact they had to stock up anyways on camping gear.

What was most unfortunate? Vincent was very upset at the prospect of going to the mall.

“NO!” He screeched. “NO NO NO NO NO!”

“I know Vince, but we gotta get all the things we need. We gotta make sure we’re ready to go.” Orlando told him, shushing him.

Vincent just flailed like the world was ending, "NO!"

Not even the offer of getting popcorn from the popcorn vendor at the mall was going to quell the rage building inside Vincent. He did not want to, but had to. And if he was going to do it, he was going to scream bloody murder. 

Orlando sighed, just patting his back and trying to keep him calm as they walked through the store. Jonny looking through the list, not wanting to miss anything.

The list was quite expansive, considering they had to stock their new RV they had bought for this trip and future trips because it was a good idea to have a space that could act like an apartment with a little like Vincent because...well, he was littler than other littles and it would be easier on him to be not restricted as much with how much he vehemently hated car rides when it was for longer than three hours. Poor baby just couldn't sit still for that long.

  * Adapters for 30 amp and 50 amp outlets
  * Batteries
  * Bottle/can opener
  * Dishes/cooking utensils (pots and pans etc)
  * Firewood
  * First-aid supplies
  * Flashlights, lanterns
  * Grill (and fuel)
  * Heavy-duty extension cords
  * Insect repellent
  * Toilet Paper
  * Matches/lighter
  * Road flares
  * Rope and bungee cords
  * Soap and toiletries
  * Sunscreen
  * Tool kit
  * Towels
  * Trash bags



They would've gone to Ikea instead of the mall, but that would've involved a boat and dealing with Vincent's mood while on a boat would not be ideal at all.

Orlando sighed, patting Vincent's back as they went to the first store. They wanted to do this as quickly as possible, and hopefully, with little fight from Vincent. The latter was not looking too good on the other hand.

Vincent just cried for a little bit longer until he cried himself hoarse, clearly making himself tired. Maybe, just maybe, but now they probably needed to get the baby something to drink so he could get back all that water. After all, he had such big feelings on the matter.

“Vince do you wanna go get a drink?” He asked him, wiping his face gently.

Vincent nodded into his Dada’s neck, burying his face into it. He wasn’t having it today.

“What do you want, bud? Or are you too sad to think about it?” He asked, telling Jonny he’ll be back in a bit.

“....Choccy pease.” 

“Okay, we can get that.” He kissed his cheek, going to the closest starbucks.

“...Dada eat.”

“Baby, Dada did eat. You were sleepy still so Papa and I ate so you can get extra sleep.” He told him, “Is that why you’re so sad? Cause you think Papa and I haven’t eaten anything today?”

Vincent nodded, grasping tightly to his jacket, “Dada eat.”

“How about I get a snack here for Papa and I, would that make it a little better? So you can see us eat.”

Vincent nodded. “An choccy?”

“And you’re chocolate.” He kissed his cheek and went up to the cashier.

The shopping trip went smoothly after that, but having to explain to Jonny why Vincent got upset just made him sad. 

Vincent looked at a light-up sheep lantern. It was only twenty bucks...But they knew Vincent didn’t ask for toys, which was going to make christmas hell, but that was an issue for later. In any case, he kept looking at it as they traversed the flashlight section. It was adorable and clearly a girl.

Jonny reached over without a second thought, and set her in the basket. Vincent hardly ever asked for anything, and he had no issues especially after how sad he was today. Plus, it would be good for the trip. 

Vincent looked at Jonny, “But bad…” He whispered.

Jonny turned to him, “Vin, it happens. Everyone has a bad day sometimes, and yeah you did throw a fit earlier, but it’ll be alright. Do you think you can hold out until tomorrow to hold her though?” He asked him.

Vincent nodded, but looked ready to cry again. He gently took him from Orlando, letting the other take the cart. He rubbed his back. 

“Why are you sad, Vince? Why the tears?”

It was heartbreaking that he didn’t respond and just cried quietly, but it was clear that at the very least he wasn’t hurting himself by crying. Jonny just rubbed his back, shushing him softly as they continued their shopping. Managing to get the rest of the list done before they went home for the day. Letting Vincent calm down after a day like it was. 

Vincent just held onto Jonny for the rest of the day.

The next morning they were off.


	18. Day 18:  Wearing diapers on long road trips

Orlando huffed as he sat in the driver's seat of the RV. "I still can't believe the manhattan library doesn't have a little house on the prairie season one."

"Oh lighten up." Erica rolled her eyes, "It's probably on netflix."

"Erica, you don't understand. They don't have the little house on the prairie." Orlando looked very sad.

Jonny rolled his eyes, feeding Vincent his breakfast, "You know that's a grandpa show, right?"

"JJ has some good ideas, and Vincent likes it, you guys are just jealous."

“Yes so jealous of your fascination with little house on the prairie.” Jonny shook his head a bit as Vincent just ate his breakfast like a good boy.

Vincent patted the table, "Sheepy go baa."

Orlando sighed, "I'm so alone in my love for the prairie. Woe is thou."

Jonny just rolled his eyes, “Well either way, settle that issue and watch something off of netflix.”

Vincent patted the table, waiting for more food to be put in his mouth as they ended up watching the Vampire Diaries. Eventually, they arrived at a truckstop in Colorado to refuel. 

Orlando looked at Jonny, “I think somebody needs a change and I need to go take a leak, so it’s up to you.”

“Yeah yeah.” Jonny waved him off, taking him over to the bathroom to get him changed. Vincent looked around the...frankly decrepit bathroom.

It looked like he would need to give Vincent a tetanus shot just by sitting him down on the ground.

“Okay, changing you in the RV.” Jonny told Vincent as he turned around and just left the bathroom. Vincent looked so confused.

“Potty goes in the potty...but pottyin’ on the ground?”

“That’s because someone doesn’t know how to do it right.” Jonny told him, laying out a changing mat. Before setting him on it. Vincent did little kicks, his hands going into his mouth to be sucked on.

He smiled up at his Papa.


	19. Day 19: Pouting in a car seat, because car rides are boring.

The Trivia for Tonight.....  
WIP


	20. Day 20:  Going to the doctor’s and getting a shot

The Trivia for Tonight.....  
WIP


	21. Day 21:  Sick littles being loved on by his/her/their Friend/Lover/Caregiver

The Trivia for Tonight.....  
WIP


	22. Day 22:  Slouchy-oversized sweaters 2: Stealing his/her/their Friend/Lover/Caregiver’s oversized sweater and declaring it as theirs

Orlando hummed, "Hey Jonny, have you seen my sweater? I threw it in the wash so I could wear it tonight when we go out to the stray sheep!"

"No idea," Jonny replied, folding laundry, "I didn't find it in the laundry, but you could ask Vincent. He's supposed to be my little helper, but he's the worst."

Orlando hummed, and picked up the boy, who was obviously hiding behind the couch, "I spy with my little eye a Vin-Vin who is a sweater thief."

Vincent giggled, "Dada sweater...is mine!"

"It's yours? But it's my sweater?" Orlando sat with him on the couch and began tickling him, "You're the cutest little thief, ten thousand years of kisses and tickling for you!"

"Nooo!" Vincent squealed.

Even still, Vincent still kept that sweater and to this day, it was one of those scent-coated items any little had in their closet to remind them of their caregiver.


	23. Day 23: Unexpected Snow Day

The marigold flames of the fireplace roared as snowflakes lightly twirled around the icy ground. It was most unfortunate, seeing as Vincent wanted to play outside with his friends today, but with this unexpected snowstorm...and the foot of snow outside that hopefully would thaw out before Halloween, they were stuck inside, cuddling with cocoa.

Vincent didn't seem to mind too much at any rate. After all.

Hot. Cocoa.

How could he say no to that??!

So while Jonny raged about snow and the incredibly dreaded idea of scraping ice off of every single window on the car dealership, and shoveling the driveway to even get to the dealership at that, they sat by the crackling fire, toasting their toes and watching old, old cartoons from the 1940s and 50s.

Tom and Jerry on a cold day?

Check.


	24. Chapter 24:  Trying on cute halloween costumes

“Alright Vince, ready to find a costume to wear?” Orlando asked as he carried him into the store. It was finally the day where they went and found Vincent’s halloween costume. Most of the costumes were probably picked by now, but it was fine. They were positive they could find something at the very least.

“Baaaaa.” Vincent held onto his beloved sheep plushie, which was all fancy and dressed up. His Nonna told her that she was Countess Sheepula. Because Halloween.

“I don’t know if we’ll find a sheep costume bud, but we’ll try.” He kissed his cheek, taking him over to the little costume section.

Unsurprisingly the older children costumes were mostly picked over, the popular Disney Princess, Superhero and ‘Real Jobs’ costumes being the first on the chopping block, but interestingly, the smaller aged little’s costumes, the ones meant for one's around Vincent’s age were still bountiful. It made sense. 

About 2.5 percent of littles were around Vincent’s age in New York State, so it made sense why the older costumes would be picked clean and the unfortunate bastards who did have an older little would definitely throw a fit about wearing a ‘baby’ costume.

“Alright bud, see any costumes that catch your eye?” He asked him, taking him over to the costumes. Looking through a few of them to see if he can find some for Vincent to try on.

Vincent tended to be non-conforming in the tendency of clothes so he chose a witchling, vampire childer and pirate costume to start off with. Maybe Vincent would want to be scary? It was halloween…

He brought him into the dressing room, putting him in the vampire costume first. Putting him in front of the mirror once it was on.

It hadn’t even been thirty seconds before he teared up and shook his head, “No...Scary.”

“Okay okay.” He shushed him, getting him out of the costume. “Do you wanna try the witch next?”

“No!” Vincent shook his head, “Dada Baaa.”

“I know baby, we need to find a sheep costume.” He told him. 

So, scary was a no go, that was good to know. But what could they do...Well, there were two options by that point. The meme fuckery option or the cute option like the traditional pumpkin. Though he heard in the mom chat, yes he was a part of the mom chat, sue him he wanted to stay informed, that Daniel was going to be a pumpkin for halloween so he definitely didn’t want to steal Anna’s thunder.

Orlando ran a hand through his hair a bit, looking at each of the costumes. There had to be one sheep costume, how many people want to be a sheep for Halloween? He can only think of one little boy.

Pooh bear costume, stitch costume...oh fuck was that a donut costume…??

Well, at the very least, he was happy there weren't any ‘sexy’ costumes. God forbid.

Vincent looked at a mass of black fabric, “Dada! Dat!” He pointed at the fabric, which had been long forgotten by an employee, yet to be rehung to be sold.

He raised an eyebrow, picking up the fabric. Trying to look at the costume.

As it turned out, it was indeed a halloween costume- a sheep costume. It would make sense that the white versions of the halloween costume would be sold out, after all, ‘Mary Had A Little Lamb’ was a common CG and Little paired costume.

“Oh, well lookit that. Do you wanna try out being a black sheep?”

“Scary sheep?” Vincent asked, “I wanna be scary sheep.”

“Well let's try it on bud.” He takes him back into the dressing room. Helping him into the costume before sitting him in front of the mirror.

It was a little bit too big but Jesus christ the costume looked adorable. “Baaa! Bad sheepy!” He held himself like he was in a dinosaur costume.

Orlando chuckled, smiling at him. “Do you like it baby?” He asked him, adjusting the costume a bit.

Vincent nodded, “Bad sheepy?”

“Yes.”


	25. Chapter 25:  Refusing to wear anything but the cute halloween costume

“Come on Vince, you need to take off the costume.” Orlando told him, trying to get the cute sheep costume off of Vincent. The little boy has been refusing to take it off since they got it. It would be fine, but they wanted it to be clean for Halloween.

Vincent kicked his feet, "No! Bad Sheepy! Am Scary!"

“Vin, please baby. We need to keep the costume clean for Halloween.” Orlando tried to tell him.

Vincent just frowned, “No!”

Taking the costume off Vincent was a nightmare and they weren’t prepared for what happened next.


	26. Day 26: Throwing a tantrum over being told no, you cannot keep wearing the cute halloween costume

The wrath of one Vincent Ariga-Haddick was felt as he screamed and cried as the costume was taken off.

Orlando looked at Jonny, "We should've just shopped online and surprised him."

"Agreed." Jonny rubbed his temples.

20 minutes later, and Vincent was all tantrumed out, but the two men made an agreement that day.

Vincent's halloween costume, for the future, is to be bought months in advance, and hidden away in a box in the closet until the night grows nearer.

...They just really didn't like seeing him cry. 


	27. Day 27: Bonfire/cookout parties!

Fairy lights strung on the fence and the tree branches in their backyard, plenty of folding chairs ready to be set up around the ready to be lit pit. 

  * Grilling Equipment: Check
  * Beverages: Check
  * Condiments: Check
  * Sauces: Check
  * Meats: Check
  * Veggies: Check
  * Sides: Check
  * Desserts: Check
  * Safety: Check
  * A Crapton of Firewood: Check



Jonny and Orlando were hosting their yearly bonfire party. This being said, it also meant that it was Vincent's first bonfire party and although he was excited about the idea that he could play with other littles his age, he was a little nervous. Fire was scary.

All of their friends from the bar were coming, even Boss, though Vincent always cried when the man in question tried to hold him. Of course, this meant Vincent's friends too.

  * Justin Bailey and his Mama Alina Oxenstierna were bringing a yummy taco salad. Vincent heard Justin's Mama was a seasonal ballerina who worked for the New York Times as a hobby. 
  * Archie Wallace and his Pops Todd were bringing extra wood and some nice beer from what Vincent heard from his Dada, though he knew he wasn't allowed to drink beer. Beer was gross. 
  * Daniel and his Mama Anna were bringing a truly decadent treat, cookie butter cheesecake. Daniel and Anna did live a more fancy life than their friends, but with Daniel being Anna's pride and joy, she was always willing to spend lots of money to make him happy.
  * They also invited a few others, Lindsay and Martha Uspenski being the most notable. After all, they were the kooky old ladies of the bar, but they were incredibly kind to Vincent.



Vincent was very excited that he was getting his aunty Rin and Catherine for a night, since it had been a little bit since they last hung out and he had missed them.

Cars started pulling up to their house around 12:30PM. Started off by Erica and Toby, who were on baby watch while Orlando and Jonny struggled with setting up the battery operated lights so when it was starting to get dark and they hadn't got the fire started, the lights would keep the little ones from freaking out because of the darkness.

Vincent gave a hug to them, happily sitting on Erica's lap as they watched his Dada and Papa suffer.

After Erica and Toby, the next to arrive was Daniel and his Mama at a crisp 1PM. They played a few games in the sandcastle and took a nap together. It was incredibly cute and Anna took plenty of pictures for Daniel's instagram, which she ran. 

They were woken up by Archie's arrival, who was always adamant that girls were yucky, at 3:30.

Boss arrived at 5 o'clock, at Lindsay and Martha's mercy, who were adamant that he shouldn't be so harsh on gay couples for living as he did. 

"All love is beautiful."

"All love is kind."

"And you sir, are in denial."

Jonny and Orlando stanned.

After Boss apologized for a tasteless remark, Catherine and Rin came out of Rin's apartment complex.

"Rin's so sheltered, so I had to take the poor boy shopping, my good ladies and men and nonbinary friends." Catherine said with a cat-like grin.

"Cathy! Good to see you, beautiful. How was work, you had those major deadlines, right?" Orlando greeted as Vincent wiggled out of his grasp to go hug her.

"Oh! Hello pretty boy. But yeah. Some idiot messed up the models I worked hard on to make them 'innocent' when the point is that most men who play the game will probably lewd their waifu. The client even asked that we have such things in the damned game. Ugh." Catherine sighed, "But that's not the point. I brought some cookies from Walmart, they're the soft-baked ones so they won't hurt the little guys' teeth."

"Thanks Cathy." Orlando nodded, "We're just about to light the fire, why don't you sit with Vincent and the kids?"

"Sure, sure. Did they eat?"

"We were waiting until everyone arrived, it seemed unfair that some wouldn't get a chance to eat some of Nonna's pumpkin pie. It's got gingersnap cookies as the base."

"Oooh. Vin and I should definitely try some, right buddy?"

"Yeah." Vincent nodded.

Rin walked up, "Sorry, I was trying to fix my skirt. So we're going to sit with the little ones?"

"Mhm. It's a good thing that food is coming, because Vincent looks so delicious I wanna nom him all up." Catherine smiled, teasing Vincent, causing him to whine.

"Aunty Cathy noooo." 

"Aunty Cathy yes, you're too cute for this world, I swear." She smiled.

The final one to arrive was Morgan, who brought some burger buns, brats and hot dogs.

Dinner was made, dinner was had and conversations were afoot. The four children sat underneath a table while the fire was being lit, sharing treats they snagged from the dessert table.

“Aren’tcha gonna eat it Vinny?” Justin asked, looking at the brunette’s prolifered chocolate.

“Nuh-uh. ‘M giving in to Dada. Mr. Lupin says chocolate helps.” Vincent shook his head.

“But isn’t Mr. Lupin in Harry Potter?” Archie pointed out, “Maybe your Dada doesn’t need the choc’late.”

“There’s the pups.” Todd flipped up the table cloth, “Come on out, we’re about to make some s’mores up in the biatch.”

“Pops!” Archie raised his arms and Todd picked him up.

“Careful not too close to the fire, kiddos. Hair burns quicker than skin and you don’t wanna give yourselves a shitty look.” Todd warned as Justin and Daniel went to their Mamas, as Jonny picked up Vincent.

“There’s my little lambchop. Have you ever had a s'more before?”

“Nuh-uh.”

Spoiler-alert: It was delicious, and he liked them a lot.


	28. Day 28:  Go camping in the backyard! Cook things on the firepit- s’mores, hot dogs…

August and October were the signalling point of the end of the sunkissed days and cool nights. Now it was just cold consistently. But that didn't mean that New York didn't have it's final spurts of warm weather before the gloom of autumn and winter dawned upon him.

What did that mean for the boys? Well, Orlando wanted to go camping with Vincent, but since it wasn't like they could do so because Vincent was just too little.

So what did they do? Backyard camping. Sure, it wasn't a weekend in the woods, but at the very least, they could be sure that Vincent was nice and warm.

Vincent looked adorable in his onesie, and even cuter eating a s'more.

Roasting stuff over the fire pit was fun, even if it was a bit scary at first, and sleeping under the stars was more than fun, especially sandwiched between the two people he loved more than anything.


	29. Day 29:  Go to a sporting event: Football, hockey etc

"Hey Vincent, come over here so Dada can take a picture of you for Nonna!" Orlando called, holding his cell phone.

"I still can't believe you got us three tickets for the New York Artic Blazers." Jonny sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, "I didn't buy them, I won them off of Boss. Besides, it'll be a good experience for him." Orlando explained, "Don't worry, I didn't spend money for you know what."

"You better not!" Jonny said, "You know how special that time of the year is."

Vincent didn't get exactly where they were going, but did pose for his Nonna nonetheless in his New York Artic Blazers hoodie.

"I just don't want it to be like that one time where Toby brought Vincent along with him and Erica to a women's wrestling tournament." Jonny sighed.

"Psh, you know they're actually going to be wearing uniforms unlike Feather's bra and pantie scheme. She was nice though."

Jonny pinched the bridge of his nose, “Goddamnit Orlando.”

“Hey, let’s just be thankful that they didn’t take him to something like a scream-fest.” Orlando pointed out.

“Vincent meeting Feather is exactly the reason why we had to hire Olivia for when we’re working.” Jonny sighed, “But if you’re sure…We should get going.”

Upon arriving at the arena for the event, they found their seats, got their popcorn and prepared to watch the match. Jonny had gone mother hen on Vincent and covered him with a blanket in addition to his merch hoodie and fluffy pajama pants that helped keep his legs warm.

“Gotta make sure the baby doesn’t get cold.” He smiled, holding him in his lap.

Vincent nuzzled into Jonny. He didn’t understand sports, but he did understand that he loved his Dada and Papa.

Apparently, their team won or something. He didn’t understand sports.


	30. Day 30:  Storytime: Scary Edition

The Trivia for Tonight.....

WIP


	31. Day 31: Halloween Baby

Red Riding Hood

Sexy Wolf

Black Sheep

Vincent's halloween wasn't that bad, he had gone trick or treating in that scary costume of his, but honestly, asking for strangers for candy was novel to a little baby like him- he got given candy and other sweets all the time whenever he went to the Stray Sheep with his Dada and Papa so he got bored of the full-sized candy bars and lollipops the size of his face rather quickly. 

So after about 2 hours of trick or treating, they settled in to watch a movie together, Vincent's costume doubled as a kigu, so he still wore it.

"Hm, what do we want for dinner?" Orlando looked in the pantry, before at his husband who was setting up the movie.

"Pizza seems like a good choice, and we can eat the leftovers for tomorrow." Jonny pointed out, "Now sit down, you're going to miss it!"

"Jonny, there's a pause button." Orlando pointed out, but pulled out his computer to make the order. 

"Yes, but it's Scary Godmother and I need to show our child this adorable atrocity of animation."

“There is still a pause button.” Orlando told him.

“Shut fuck and sit down and watch the movie.” Jonny huffed at him, “Pizza can be delivered while you’re watching and the animation is too horribly bad to miss.”

It was only moments after the Pizza was ordered and arrived at the house. The rest of the night was spent watching the family friendly kids movies. No issues were had and it was all in good fun. 

Vincent decided that he liked Halloween, because he got to have nice times like this. This made it all so much better.


End file.
